🔗 Share this article A New Collection Analysis: Linked Tales of Pain Twelve-year-old Freya stays with her preoccupied mother in Cornwall when she encounters 14-year-old twins. "The only thing better than knowing a secret," they advise her, "comes from possessing one of your own." In the time that ensue, they violate her, then entomb her breathing, blend of nervousness and annoyance passing across their faces as they ultimately liberate her from her improvised coffin. This may have functioned as the shocking main event of a novel, but it's merely a single of many terrible events in The Elements, which collects four novellas – published distinctly between 2023 and 2025 – in which characters negotiate past trauma and try to achieve peace in the present moment. Disputed Context and Subject Exploration The book's issuance has been overshadowed by the presence of Earth, the second novella, on the preliminary list for a notable LGBTQ+ writing prize. In August, nearly all other candidates pulled out in protest at the author's debated views – and this year's prize has now been terminated. Conversation of gender identity issues is absent from The Elements, although the author touches on plenty of major issues. Homophobia, the impact of mainstream and online outlets, caregiver abandonment and sexual violence are all explored. Distinct Narratives of Pain In Water, a grieving woman named Willow transfers to a secluded Irish island after her husband is incarcerated for terrible crimes. In Earth, Evan is a soccer player on trial as an participant to rape. In Fire, the adult Freya balances revenge with her work as a doctor. In Air, a dad journeys to a burial with his teenage son, and wonders how much to reveal about his family's background. Trauma is piled on pain as damaged survivors seem fated to encounter each other continuously for forever Interconnected Narratives Connections abound. We originally see Evan as a boy trying to leave the island of Water. His trial's panel contains the Freya who returns in Fire. Aaron, the father from Air, collaborates with Freya and has a child with Willow's daughter. Secondary characters from one story reappear in houses, pubs or judicial venues in another. These storylines may sound tangled, but the author knows how to power a narrative – his prior successful Holocaust drama has sold millions, and he has been converted into numerous languages. His straightforward prose bristles with gripping hooks: "in the end, a doctor in the burns unit should understand more than to toy with fire"; "the first thing I do when I reach the island is modify my name". Personality Development and Storytelling Strength Characters are sketched in succinct, impactful lines: the empathetic Nigerian priest, the troubled pub landlord, the daughter at war with her mother. Some scenes resonate with tragic power or insightful humour: a boy is punched by his father after having an accident at a football match; a biased island mother and her Dublin-raised neighbour exchange jabs over cups of diluted tea. The author's knack of bringing you wholeheartedly into each narrative gives the comeback of a character or plot strand from an previous story a real frisson, for the opening times at least. Yet the cumulative effect of it all is desensitizing, and at times practically comic: suffering is accumulated upon suffering, coincidence on coincidence in a dark farce in which wounded survivors seem doomed to meet each other continuously for all time. Thematic Depth and Final Evaluation If this sounds not exactly life and resembling purgatory, that is element of the author's message. These wounded people are burdened by the crimes they have experienced, stuck in cycles of thought and behavior that stir and spiral and may in turn hurt others. The author has discussed about the influence of his personal experiences of mistreatment and he portrays with understanding the way his characters navigate this dangerous landscape, extending for remedies – solitude, icy sea dips, forgiveness or refreshing honesty – that might bring illumination. The book's "basic" structure isn't particularly educational, while the quick pace means the examination of gender dynamics or social media is mostly superficial. But while The Elements is a defective work, it's also a entirely readable, survivor-centered epic: a valued riposte to the typical obsession on detectives and offenders. The author demonstrates how pain can run through lives and generations, and how time and compassion can silence its reverberations.